The momentum that NOM enjoys right now is amazing. We're on the verge of securing a pro-marriage majority on the Supreme Court, we've just won two big cases in the Court in support of the right of people not to participate in a same-sex ceremony, Congress is moving forward with critical legislation to protect marriage supporters and President Trump is embarking on a sweeping push to protect the religious liberty of people of faith.

This is an incredible time at NOM where we have momentum on our entire agenda. But…

We’ve exhausted our available financial resources and do not have the reserves we need to keep up our aggressive push on all fronts to maintain our momentum. We urgently need to raise money now to take advantage of the unprecedented opportunities that are before us. Can you help us with an emergency financial contribution today?

The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court looks very promising. Kavanaugh's confirmation will give us a pro-marriage majority on the Court and a legitimate path forward to restore marriage to our nation's laws.

The House of Representatives has advanced a key legislative provision we support to protect faith-based adoption agencies to continue to adopt children out only to traditionally married couples so that these adoptive children are raised with the love of a mother and a father.

The US Senate has introduced the First Amendment Defense Act to protect marriage supporters from retaliation by any agency of the federal government.

The Trump administration has embarked on a sweeping push to protect the religious liberty of people of faith, even adopting language used by NOM that religious liberty is "our first freedom."

I am very grateful for all of your support. It's because of you and all our supporters that we have such momentum. I hope you can help us again at this critical time so that we don't have to take our foot off the gas on any of the priorities that are now in play.

Thank you for your consideration.

Faithfully,

Brian S. Brown

By Brian Brown|Posted in Same Sex Marriage|Comments Off on We've got momentum, but...

Dear Friend—The momentum that NOM enjoys right now is amazing, but we can't afford to slow down. Everything we've accomplished is because of you and our loyal supporters, and I am counting on your continued help.

All the opportunities we have in front of us are incredible – the fight to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, an expanded push for religious liberty protections by the Trump administration, legislation that is moving in Congress and the states, and the prospects for a pro-marriage US Supreme Court – but our finances are being stretched beyond what we planned. Can you help us with an emergency financial contribution today?

I remember joking with a friend a few months back about what we'd do if all of a sudden all the things we were working on started to happen. At the time, it seemed unlikely. The Trump administration had already acted to protect religious liberty and there was no hint of more to come. Congress had not introduced the First Amendment Defense Act or child welfare inclusion provisions to protect people of faith from being punished for supporting marriage. Anthony Kennedy had given no public hints that he planned to retire from the Supreme Court. I jokingly told my friend that it would be a good problem to have if all our priority projects picked up steam at the same time.

Now that everything we are working on has taken on real urgency because the opportunities are incredible, maybe the joke is on me. It is a good problem to have, but at the same time it is also concerning because we just don't have the financial reserves we need to keep up our aggressive push on all fronts. The plain truth is that we need to raise additional financial resources, and soon.

Just look at what's been happening in recent weeks:

The confirmation battle for Brett Kavanaugh looks very promising. All the Republicans seem likely to hold, and we're targeting six Democrats who are running for reelection in states that President Trump won. I'm not counting our chickens before they are hatched, but it sure looks encouraging for Kavanaugh.

When Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed, we will have a pro-marriage majority on the US Supreme Court for the first time in years, giving us a legitimate path forward to restore marriage to our nation's laws.

The House of Representatives has put a legislative provision in a key funding bill that will protect faith-based adoption agencies from being punished because they believe in traditional marriage and adopt children out only to married couples who can provide children with the love of a mother and a father.

The US Senate has introduced the First Amendment Defense Act to protect marriage supporters from retaliation by any agency of the federal government because they will not violate their religious beliefs and personally participate in a same-sex ceremony or celebration.

The Trump administration has embarked on a sweeping push to protect the religious liberty of people of faith, even adopting language used by NOM that religious liberty is "our first freedom."

Thank you, once again, for all of your support. As you can see, it is making a real difference and I hope you can help us again at this critical time so that we don't have to take our foot off the gas on any of the priorities that are now in play.

Dear Friend—Last week NOM launched a nationwide petition to help our supporters contact six key Democratic US Senators who could be pivotal to the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court. Please add your name today to our petition.

When you sign our petition, NOM will send an email on your behalf to each of the six Democratic Senators we are targeting—Joe Manchin (WV), Heidi Heitkamp (ND), Joe Donnelly (IN), Doug Jones (AL), Claire McCaskill (MO), and Jon Tester (MT)—letting them know that you and countless other Americans want them to vote to support Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. We also will send a copy of the email to each of the Senators' Chief of Staff.

Already, thousands of emails have been generated from NOM supporters but more work needs to be done to keep the pressure on these key Democratic Senators. It's imperative that these Senators hear from us that we expect them to support the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, a superbly qualified nominee to the US Supreme Court. Please act today to sign our petition.

Normally, a US Senator might not care much about what voters in other states feel about an issue, but in this case each of these Democratic Senators are worried about the impact their confirmation vote might have on their political futures. Each of these Senators is seeking reelection in states carried by Donald Trump so they are worried about alienating the Trump base and conservatives generally. And each are being inundated by leftist activists from across the country urging them to ignore the fact that President Trump was elected in their state in large part because of his promise to appoint Supreme Court Justices like Brett Kavanaugh, people with a proven record of upholding the constitution and refusing to legislate from the bench to impose their own personal viewpoints.

It's critical that these key Democratic Senators hear from NOM's members that we want them to put the interests of voters ahead of the narrow interests of special interest groups on the left and vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh. Please sign our petition today so that these Senators and their Chiefs of Staff know of your support for Judge Kavanaugh.

Confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court is essential to create a path forward to restoring marriage to our nation's laws. Judge Kavanaugh has been on the federal bench for over a decade and has authored over 300 opinions during that time. He's proven himself to be a solid conservative and constitutionalist, someone who interprets constitutional questions based on the text of the constitution itself and the intent of the framers at the time the provision was crafted. I am convinced that such a judge would never allow something like gay 'marriage' to stand because it is an illegitimate and anti-constitutional concept.

Also, if you are able to make a financial gift, we'd be extremely grateful. We will use your contribution to help reach more Americans to involve them in the battle to confirm Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Dear Friend—Our work to ensure the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court is picking up steam and thus far the signs are encouraging. With Sen. Rand Paul announcing his support for Kavanaugh today, many media reports suggest that all the Republicans are likely to support Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation (although we won't take anything for granted).

As important to the successful confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh are developments indicating that Chuck Schumer's outrageous campaign of pure obstruction is failing. Sen. Joe Manchin, one of a group of Democrat Senators who are seeking election in red states carried by President Trump, defied Schumer and met today with Kavanaugh to discuss his judicial record and philosophy. It is being reported other Democrats are similarly wavering and also want to meet with Kavanaugh.

It's imperative that these key Democratic Senators – including Manchin (WV), Heidi Heitkamp (ND), Joe Donnelly (IN), Doug Jones (AL), Claire McCaskill (MO), and Jon Tester (MT) – hear from us that we expect them to support the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, a superbly qualified nominee to the US Supreme Court.

In addition to adding your signature to the petition, your action today will also result in an individual email to each of these Senators and to their Chief of Staff urging them to back Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation!

The fact is that the future direction of the US Supreme Court was one of the most important issues in the 2016 presidential election. During the campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump highlighted Judge Kavanaugh as someone he was strongly considering appointing to the Supreme Court. After doing so, he went on to win the election, and in the process carried each of the states represented by Democrats we are targeting with our petition.

Senator Schumer and his allies on the left are engaged in rank, partisan delaying tactics. Their latest gambit is to demand over one million documents that Kavanaugh may have been come in contact with during his service in government so that they can find some "nugget" of information to misrepresent and mischaracterize. It's nothing more than a transparent attempt to push the confirmation vote off until after this November's mid-term elections so that these vulnerable Democrats can avoid a vote on the Kavanaugh nomination. Schumer, of course, hopes that he can pull a rabbit out of the hat and engineer a Democrat takeover of the US Senate, which would derail not only the Kavanaugh nomination but every other presidential nomination that Mr. Trump might envision.

The time to act on Judge Brett Kavanaugh is now. He has been on the federal bench for over a decade and has authored over 300 opinions during that time. Everything that Americans need to know about his judicial philosophy is contained in those rulings. There's no need to go on a fishing expedition demanding a million documents in the hopes that something controversial might be found that can be twisted and distorted by the left and the media.

We are committed to restoring marriage to our nation's laws and the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh is a critical element in our strategy to do so. Please help us today by signing our petition. And if you are able to make a financial gift so that we can reach more people in our campaign, we would be very grateful.

This is such an exciting time for marriage supporters. Let's keep up the momentum that we've got going in our favor! Thank you.

Dear Friend—Freshman Republican Scott Taylor of Virginia is a fraud. He campaigned as a conservative but time and again has sided with liberal extremist Nancy Pelosi. Just recently, Taylor joined Pelosi in trying to kill legislation that would have protected religious charitable adoption groups who believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman from being punished by the government over their religious belief that children put up for adoption are entitled to the love of a mother and a father.

Scott Taylor has revealed himself to be a puppet of the left and radical LGBT extremists who regularly trot out gratuitous charges of "discrimination." Groups like Catholic Charities and Bethany Lutheran Services have had to stop providing adoption services because they are simply unwilling to sacrifice their religious beliefs to the demands of government agencies doing the bidding of these LGBT extremists. Children suffer as a result of these governmental demands. Across the country, people of faith are being targeted, punished and pushed to the margins simply because they believe what the bible says, that marriage is one man and one woman. This is wrong, and our laws need to be fixed so that good and decent people who love children and want to help them are not punished because of their Christian beliefs in marriage.

Fortunately, Rep. Taylor's unjustified and unprincipled attack on faith-based adoption providers has failed, and legal protections for these providers were added to a key funding bill, making passage of the provision by the House of Representatives likely. Still, it's important for Rep. Scott Taylor to know that we don't appreciate his betrayal of conservative principles and his decision to side with extremist voices like Nancy Pelosi against good and decent people of faith who want nothing more than to help children according to the tenets of their religious beliefs.

Dear Friend—President Trump's nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace the retiring Anthony Kennedy is one of the most pivotal moments in the fight for marriage. Judge Kavanaugh is a constitutionalist like Antonin Scalia and Neil Gorsuch who believes in interpreting the constitution based on its wording and original meaning. The importance of this nomination to the Supreme Court cannot be overstated. For the first time since the Court illegitimately redefined marriage in the Obergefell decision of 2015, NOM and all marriage supporters will have a clear path forward to restore marriage to our nation's laws.

To ensure that we fully capitalize on the moment at hand, we have launched the Marriage Heroes campaign. Our objective is to recruit individuals who will commit to take specific actions to support the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh so that we have a pro-marriage majority on the Supreme Court. Will you stand with us at this critical time in history as a Marriage Hero? Please sign up today.

As a Marriage Hero, we'll rely on you to help us in a number of critical ways, including:

Participate in calling attention to the true nature of marriage – one man and one woman – through support of our campaign. Click here for more info.

Call and write key US Senators urging them to support confirmation of President Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court.

Submit letters and comments to your local newspaper and influential publications supporting the nominee (NOM will provide key talking points along the way).

If you are a user of social media, be an active supporter of the nominee, disseminating key points and rebutting the misinformation that is sure to be generated by the other side (again, we will provide content for you to use).

Band together with friends and allies for periodic public displays of support, such as sign waving events at busy intersections.

Already, hundreds of NOM supporters have stepped up pledging to devote themselves to this cause. They realize we are embarking on the most important period of time in all of NOM's history. With this new Supreme Court nomination, we are poised to have a legitimate opportunity to undo the Obergefell decision in the near future. This is an incredible blessing, something we thank God for.

But securing the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh will not be easy because the left knows full well that this confirmation battle could shape the future of marriage, life, religious liberty and everything we care about for generations to come. The nation has never seen what it is about to witness from the left. They will stop at nothing to derail President Trump's nomination of Judge Kavanaugh.

The few hours we will ask you to devote to winning this confirmation vote will be just a moment compared to the tremendous lasting good that will come from a US Supreme Court that is guided by the constitution and not by the opinion of elites who seek to impose their own views on the American people.

Please act today by signing up to be a Marriage Hero, someone willing to help us as a grassroots champion to do the critical work needed to counter the left and secure a majority of justices on the Supreme Court who will restore marriage, stand for life and protect religious liberty.

Dear Friend—Freshman Republican Scott Taylor of Virginia campaigned as a conservative but has behaved like liberal extremist Nancy Pelosi when it comes to issues impacting religious liberty, families and the church. Just recently, he sided with Pelosi to try to kill legislation that would have prevented government from punishing religious charitable adoption groups who believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman and that hold a religious belief that children are entitled to the love of a mother and a father.

Please sign our petition letting Rep. Scott Taylor know you oppose his desire to force Christian adoption agencies to abandon their religious beliefs if they want to provide adoption services to children in need.

Scott Taylor should be ashamed of himself. Across the country, people of faith are being targeted, punished and pushed to the margins simply because they believe what the bible says, that marriage is one man and one woman. Increasingly, LGBT extremists are working to shut charitable groups down, portraying their religious beliefs as "hateful," "bigoted," and "discriminatory." Groups like Catholic Charities and Bethany Lutheran Services have had to stop providing adoption services because they are simply unwilling to sacrifice their religious beliefs to the demands of government agencies doing the bidding of LGBT extremists.

But contrary to claims of discrimination against homosexuals being thrown about by people like Congressman Scott Taylor, the real victims of discrimination are religious charities that are being forced to choose between their beliefs and their desire to help families.

Fortunately, Rep. Taylor's unjustified and unprincipled attack on faith-based adoption providers failed, and legal protections for these providers were added to a key funding bill, making passage of the provision by the House of Representatives likely. And let's be clear about something: contrary to what Rep. Taylor and his ally Nancy Pelosi claim, nothing in the adoption inclusion provision prevents gay and lesbian couples from adopting children. There are plenty of adoption agencies that are willing to adopt children to LGBT households. But it is wrong to say that every adoption agency must adopt children to LGBT households, especially when doing so violates a group's deeply held religious beliefs.

Dear Friend—An important legislative proposal in Congress supported by NOM has been adopted by a key committee in the House and is poised to be enacted soon. The provision protects the ability of faith-based foster care agencies to adopt out children to couples who believe in marriage as the union of one man and one woman. LGBT extremists have been angling to shut down religious based adoption agencies, preferring to promote their extreme political agenda over the best interests of children. The pro-adoption amendment was authored by Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Alabama) and was included in the funding bill for the Department of Health, Labor and Education.

This is a critical element of NOM's overall strategy to protect marriage supporters from discrimination by government simply because of a belief in marriage being the union of one man and one woman. Typically, the Left is going berserk over the victory for marriage supporters, falsely claiming that it allows "discrimination" against LGBT couples. But nothing in the legislative provision restricts the ability of LGBT couples to adopt children. To the contrary it was traditional marriage supporters who were being discriminated against by LGBT activists who sought to shut down any faith-based agency that, because of their religious beliefs, declined to adopt out children to same-sex couples.

Rep. Aderholt, the author of the proposal, said the amendment would “encourage states to include all experienced and licensed child welfare agencies so that children are placed in caring, loving homes where they can thrive. We need more support for these families and children in crisis, not less.”

Sadly, the amendment was opposed by freshman Republican Scott Taylor of Virginia who, despite running as a conservative, stood with pro-gay extremists who desire to shut down religious charitable groups like Catholic Charities and Bethany Christian Services because these Christian groups adhere to their biblical faith principles that children are entitled to the love of both a mother and a father.

NOM has been working behind the scenes in Washington to support the adoption provision and encourage its adoption by Congress. Now that it is part of a critical funding bill for the Department of Health, Labor and Education, it will go to the full House of Representatives for consideration. NOM will urge the House to pass the provision.

As you know, President Trump last night officially nominated Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court. He described Kavanaugh as "a judge's judge" and praised his intellect, legal credentials, judicial record and reputation. Most importantly, President Trump extolled Kavanagh's judicial philosophy saying, "What matters is not a judge’s political views, but whether they can set aside those views to do what the law and the Constitution require. I am pleased to say that I have found, without doubt, such a person."

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) supports Judge Kavanaugh's nomination and will work hard to secure his confirmation.The reasons we support him are several fold, but include:

He has a philosophy and track record of relying on the text of the Constitution as drafted by the framers and opposes judges inventing "rights" that do not exist in the Constitution itself. He has said, "[R]ead the words of the statute as written. Read the text of the Constitution as written, mindful of history and tradition. Don’t make up new constitutional rights that are not in the text of the Constitution. Don’t shy away from enforcing constitutional rights that are in the text of the Constitution.”

He has a strong record of fighting to protect religious liberty. While in private practice, Kavanaugh chaired the Federalist Society's Religious Liberty Practice Group and fought for the religious liberty rights of people of faith. On a personal level, he is a devout believer in Jesus, an active member of his church, and a volunteer in many faith-based and community groups.

His track record as a judge is as a staunch conservative and, like Justices Scalia and Gorsuch, someone who applies the Constitution and the law as written, not legislating from the bench to impose his own political views. He has over a decade of service on the Court of Appeals, authoring over 300 opinions, and has proven himself to be a man of principle, able to resist pressure from liberal judges and interest groups.

A number of top legal experts for whom we have enormous respect, including the Federalist Society's Leonard Leo and Ed Whalen of the Ethics and Public Policy Institute, sing Judge Kavanaugh's praises as a strong, reliable conservative who can be counted upon to apply the law and the Constitution as written. Their views are echoed by Sarah Pitlyk, a former Kavanaugh law clerk and Special Counsel for the Thomas More Society, a legal group that fights for life, family and religious liberty.

If as a Supreme Court justice, Kavanaugh rules as he says judges should rule ("Don't make up new constitutional rights that are not in the text of the Constitution") then I am confident that he will join an opinion to overturn gay 'marriage' and restore traditional marriage to our nation's laws. Obviously, there is no provision in the text of the Constitution that requires gay 'marriage.' Such a philosophy also suggests that he would be inclined to overturn Roe v Wadesince there is no right to abortion in the Constitution either.

The confirmation process will be brutal, and we need to be ready to fight with everything we have to support Judge Kavanaugh. We need your help. Here's what I am asking you to do:

Join our Marriage Hero campaign agreeing to work at the grassroots level to support the confirmation. This costs nothing other than a little bit of time. You can read more about what's involved here. The bottom line is we need several thousand supporters to step up and help us at the grassroots level in this critical work.

Please consider making a financial donation to NOM to help us maximize our effectiveness. We need to conduct more outreach in critical states represented by Republicans who might waver, and by Democrats in states carried by President Trump. We'll be targeting half a dozen states for additional organizing work, and we need financial support to do so.

This is a tremendously important time for our movement. Now more than ever, we need to rally the American people behind someone who will fight for and defend the Constitution of the United States, and reverse course from the disastrous direction that the liberals have fashioned, using the judicial system to impose policies that are not supported by the Constitution and that take the country in the wrong direction.

Please join with us today by becoming a Marriage Hero, helping to support the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh at the grassroots level. And if you are able, please consider making a financial contributionof whatever amount you can afford so that we are able to ensure that our campaign is fully functional nationwide, and especially so in key states with potential swing Senators. And if you are active on social media, please constantly promote the campaignto keep the truth about the nature of marriage before the American people.

Dear Friend—Today at 9 PM eastern time, President Trump will announce his nomination of a judge to the US Supreme Court to replace the retiring Anthony Kennedy. We believe that any of the candidates rumored to be finalists – Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Thomas Hardiman and Raymond Kethledge – would be excellent on our issues. They are all constitutionalists like Antonin Scalia and Neil Gorsuch who believe in interpreting the constitution based on its wording and original meaning. Once the nomination is made, a historic and unprecedented confirmation battle will ensue, the likes of which the nation has never seen. Control of the US Supreme Court for generations to come will be at stake, and cases wrongly decided by prior courts, such as the imposition of gay 'marriage' and unfettered abortion on demand, will be ripe to be overturned.

The importance of this nomination to the Supreme Court cannot be overstated. For the first time since the Court illegitimately redefined marriage in the Obergefell decision of 2015, NOM and all marriage supporters will have a clear path forward to restore marriage to our nation's laws.

To ensure that we fully capitalize on the moment at hand, we are launching the Marriage Heroes campaign. Our objective is to recruit thousands of individuals who will commit to take specific actions to support the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice. We need a massive outpouring from the grassroots to ensure that control of the Supreme Court swings to our side.

As a Marriage Hero, we'll rely on you to help us in a number of critical ways, including:

Participate in calling attention to the true nature of marriage – one man and one woman – through support of our campaign. Click here for more info.

Call and write key US Senators urging them to support confirmation of President Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court.

Submit letters and comments to your local newspaper and influential publications supporting the nominee (NOM will provide key talking points along the way).

If you are a user of social media, be an active supporter of the nominee, disseminating key points and rebutting the misinformation that is sure to be generated by the other side (again, we will provide content for you to use).

Band together with friends and allies for periodic public displays of support, such as sign waving events at busy intersections.

We are about to embark on the most important period of time in all of NOM's history. It's rare for a group like ours to be able to survive when dealt a blow like we were in the illegitimate and anti-constitutional Obergefell ruling redefining marriage. But thanks to you and thousands of others who have stood with us, NOM has not only survived, but thrived. We've had some incredible accomplishments in the Trump era, and with this new Supreme Court nomination, are poised to have a legitimate opportunity to undo the Obergefell decision in the near future.

But securing the confirmation of President Trump's nominee will not be easy because the left knows full well that this confirmation battle could shape the future of marriage, life, religious liberty and everything we care about for generations to come. The nation has never seen what it is about to witness from the left. They will stop at nothing to derail President Trump's nomination.

But as wealthy and influential as LGBT extremists and their allies on the left and in the media may be, they are no match for the grassroots power of those who believe in the sanctity of marriage, the cause of life, and the right of religious liberty.

The few hours we will ask you to devote to winning this confirmation vote will be just a moment compared to the tremendous lasting good that will come from a US Supreme Court that is guided by the constitution and not by the opinion of elites who seek to impose their own views on the American people.

Please act today by signing up to be a Marriage Hero, someone willing to help us as a grassroots champion to do the critical work needed to counter the left and secure a majority of justices on the Supreme Court who will restore marriage, stand for life and protect religious liberty.

Dear Friend—Today we celebrate our nation’s independence, and the freedoms we enjoy as citizens of this great nation. These freedoms are expressed in our country’s founding documents. In the great Declaration of Independence we read of those “inalienable rights” of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” In the first of the Bill of Rights adopted in amendment to the Constitution are delineated our freedom of religious exercise, our freedom of assembly, and our freedom of expression.

It’s good to take time today to be grateful for these freedoms, grateful to live in a land that protects them. Our Founders recognized that the protection of these freedoms was the purpose that spurred our nation’s inception. The Declaration and our Constitution do not create these rights, but safeguards and assures them. The freedoms themselves are born of the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God”—they are ours as human beings made in God’s image.

But just as the Founders recognized that America does not create and bestow these freedoms, they recognized as well that these rights came bound up with responsibilities. When, at the end of the Declaration, the Founders proclaimed the United States’ independence from Great Britain, they claimed those “free and independent” States’ right “to do all… Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.” There are limits on what a State may “of right” do, just as there are limits on what a person may “of right” do.

In the First Letter of Peter in the New Testament, we are exhorted: “As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil.” The freedoms we enjoy are not freedoms to do as we would, but freedoms to do as we should.

As defenders of the truth of marriage, we know how important it is to get this understanding of freedom right. In the Obergefell decision, the Supreme Court claimed a freedom to do precisely one of those things which a State may not “of right” do: to redefine marriage as created by God, the unique union of one man and one woman. It enshrined in law a “freedom” for men and women to do as they want rather than the true freedom to do as they ought. It put the desires of adults above the rights of children, and tried to supplant God’s law with a law of human making, thus using freedom as pretext for injustice and wrong.

On this Independence Day, I hope you will join me in recommitting yourself to the cause of freedom, which is nothing less than the cause of Truth, including the truth of marriage. It was not Peter, but the One to whom he committed his life, who outlined this connection between freedom and truth: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Let us thank God that we live in a nation where we are free to do what we should, where that freedom is protected and upheld in our founding documents. And let us ask God for his help in using our freedom not as a pretext for evil, but always in service of the truth on which our freedom is ultimately founded.

Dear Friend—In less than a week, President Trump will announce his nomination of a judge to the US Supreme Court to replace the retiring Anthony Kennedy. There are lots of rumors as to whom the president might select. All of those being prominently mentioned look like they would be excellent on our issues. You can count on the left to vigorously oppose anyone that President Trump might nominate because they know there is a good likelihood that the person he selects will vote to overturn illegitimate, anti-constitutional rulings like Roe v Wade, and the Obergefell case that imposed gay 'marriage' on the nation.

We've got to be ready to do everything in our power to get President Trump's nominee confirmed. This is our moment. For the first time since the Supreme Court redefined marriage in 2015, we finally have a clear path to restoring marriage to our nation's laws. We can't spare any expense or resource in this battle, because it could shape the future of marriage, life, religious liberty and everything we care about for generations to come.

This confirmation battle will be harrowing and not for the faint of heart. The nation has never seen what it is about to witness from the left. They will stop at nothing to derail President Trump's nomination.

The road to confirmation is fraught with peril. Several weak Republicans are already being targeted by the left and the media. They are also working overtime to put pressure on some Democrats who might vote to confirm the nominee. The stakes in this battle just couldn't be higher.

We will soon be announcing a new initiative to help confirm President Trump's nominee. It will represent a maximum effort on our part to support the nominee. But to be successful, we need to raise thousands of dollars in the next week.

Dear Friend—The last couple of weeks have been an absolute whirlwind as we've racked up accomplishment after accomplishment at the US Supreme Court. Let's review:

Two weeks ago we won an incredible victory with the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision from the Supreme Court, which found that Christian baker Jack Phillips was not guilty of discrimination and if anything had been discriminated against by the state of Colorado which had cavalierly dismissed his religious objections to designing a custom 'wedding' cake for a same-sex couple. The Colorado ruling against him was overturned, a great win for supporters of marriage. NOM worked hard on this case to support Jack's rights, and the rights of all people who believe in true marriage.

A week ago, the US Supreme Court vacated the devastating ruling of the Washington State Supreme Court punishing Barronelle Stutzman, a Christian florist and a grandmother, because she declined to create floral arrangements for a same-sex 'wedding' that violates her religious beliefs about marriage. The US Supreme Court directed the state of Washington to reconsider the case in light of its ruling for Jack Phillips. Again, NOM has been a staunch ally of Barronelle Stutzman throughout her ordeal.

Though not related to marriage, the Supreme Court also overturned an insane California law that required pro-life pregnancy centers to post information promoting abortion services available from the state.

Then yesterday, Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement from the Court at the end of July. Kennedy regularly supported pro-abortion decisions, and was the leading justice on the Court pushing the gay agenda, including authoring the illegitimate ruling imposing gay 'marriage' on the nation.

I can't but feel that there is a move of the Holy Spirit at work here. Not only did we achieve these great victories even with Anthony Kennedy on the Court, we have a realistic likelihood that President Trump will nominate a staunch conservative, someone like Justice Neil Gorsuch who is pro-life and pro-marriage, and who believes the constitution means what it says and cannot be used as a tool to advance a political agenda. Once that happens, here is what the future could look like in just a few years:

There would be a realistic path to restoring traditional marriage to our nation's laws as we would have a majority of justices who agree that the Obergefell ruling was illegitimate and without legal basis.

Similarly, there would be a realistic path to overturning Roe v. Wade and its progeny, ending the scourge of abortion on demand in every state in the union.

The importance of this upcoming fight to receive the nomination of a true conservative like Gorsuch, and then the confirmation fight simply cannot be overstated. I am asking you to take two simple, but important and concrete steps to help at this critical moment in history:

Please post this image on all your social media accounts, and share it with your friends and contacts. NOM's & Campaignis a great way to protest the illegitimate imposition of gay 'marriage,' which happened three years ago this week, while reinforcing the core element of marriage – it is the union of one man and one woman. You can download the & Campaign image here.

Please make an immediate donation to NOM so that we can marshal the resources we need to fight for a new justice, someone with the intellect and judicial philosophy to uphold the constitution and overturn Obergefelland Roe.

We are entering one of the most important periods of time in each of our lives. This is one of those rare occurrences which rise far above the normal clatter of political causes to assume a position of monumental importance in history. In this moment, we have the power to change the direction of our entire nation. We have the ability to powerfully push back against cultural insanity that is destroying the American values gifted us by the Judeo-Christian tradition.

I can't think of a more important time in my life to pour everything into winning this upcoming fight over control of the Supreme Court. It's certainly the most important battle in NOM's history, and we are going to do everything we possibly can to be victorious in seeing a conservative, constitutionalist jurist replace Justice Kennedy on the Court.

In a major announcement that could change everything about how the US Supreme Court looks at marriage, religious liberty, life and gender, Justice Anthony Kennedy has just announced that he will retire from the US Supreme Court at the end of July. President Trump has pledged to begin the process of selecting a replacement immediately.

It is impossible to overstate the importance of this moment. If President Trump nominates someone like Neil Gorsuch, which we will strongly urge him to do, and the nominee is confirmed by the Senate, then we will go from a 5-4 split that redefined marriage to a 5-4 pro-marriage majority. It will give us a legitimate opportunity to remove the lie of same-sex 'marriage' that was illegitimately imposed on the nation. A constitutionalist like Gorsuch replacing Kennedy also will greatly strengthen legal recognition of a vast array of religious liberty rights, not to mention the pro-life cause, and the fight for recognition of the truth of gender.

Anthony Kennedy, frequently called the "swing vote" on the Court, was a disaster on many of the issues we care most about. He wrote the majority opinion in Obergefell, imposing gay 'marriage' on the country. He also joined in many pro-abortion rulings over the years, and was a leader in creating special gay "rights" in the law.

We are going to have a huge fight on our hands.

First, we need to encourage President Trump to nominate someone who, like Neil Gorsuch, is in the mold of the late Antonin Scalia, a justice who will apply the original meaning of the constitution as written, and not attempt to mold the constitution to suit his or her own agenda.

Second, once the right nominee has been put forward, we will have a titanic fight to secure his or her confirmation. Control of the Supreme Court will be at stake, so you can bet that the left will devote everything they have to defeating a conservative nominee.

We will be announcing plans in the next day or two to engage you and all of NOM's members in this momentous fight. In the meantime, please act immediately with an emergency donation so that we can aggressively fight for the nomination and confirmation of a justice who will uphold the constitution and restore marriage to our nation's laws.

Dear Friend—Three years ago, the US Supreme Court issued one of the most illegitimate, anti-constitutional decisions in history, imposing same-sex 'marriage' on the nation by a single vote in a 5-4 ruling. Today we are taking a symbolic action to continue our opposition to this illegitimate decision by launching the campaign.

Here are the three things I'm asking you to do today as part of this simple campaign:

Praythat the truth of marriage will be restored to our laws and our culture.

This campaign is a simple and straight-forward thing we can do to emphasize the core, immutable, universal nature of marriage – marriage is one man and one woman. Man AND woman. Period. Marriage brings the two halves of humanity together for their own benefit, and for the benefit of any children born of their union. Marriage cannot be redefined by any politician, judge, legislature or court.

Please keep the up on your social media and help spread this message of simple truth about the good of marriage. You will be in good company as we hope for the to be displayed to millions of people.

This is a small but important step to show that NOM will never give up on our commitment to marriage and to restoring marriage to the law. Please post the to all your social media platforms, and share it with your friends, family and contacts by email.